By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
There was more to Saturday afternoon than football for those who ventured to Lowe-Volk Park. There were bugs and frogs and salamanders. It was even OK to get off the trails and dig in the dirt.
After all it was the Family Backpack Survival Challenge.
“We want you to get involved with nature and have fun,” Crawford Park District Naturalist Logan Masters told those who ventured out on a great day to be in the woods.
It was the second installment of the challenge for the Park District’s program year.
“It kind of started before I got here,” Masters said, noting the program that finally went from paper to the woods was somewhat altered from its original format. “Me and Joy (Etter-Link) worked together to come up with what we thought would be best.”
The program that was developed required a family unit of children and their parent or parents, or in the case of at least one brave team from Lexington – grandparents – to use the items provided by the Park District and placed in a backpack to complete several tasks.
“Well we’re looking forward to just being out here with our grandson and seeing what nature has to offer for us today,” said Pete Gailey of near Lexington. Gailey, his wife Lori and 7-year-old grandson Kayden found what awaited them was an adventure of bugs and leaves, birds and slimy creatures, and even building a shelter.
The tasks almost sounded simple to complete and hard to believe it would take three hours for most to complete. They turned out to be simplistic, perhaps, but not simple.
The challenge for those who accepted it were to: find and identify three insects; catch and release a worm or salamander, make a snare capable of catching an animal; making a fishing pole that could be cast and reeled in; identify five different leaves and do a rubbing; catch and release a frog, toads counted on Saturday; find and identify a blackberry bush and a raspberry bush; build a shelter; identify two kinds of birds; find a fossil; and complete a journal.
As Masters went down the list of challenges, the looks on the youngsters’ faces quickly revealed that looking for bugs and such was right up their alley. The looks of glee, however, turned into an audible response when he mentioned a shelter.
“All right!”
And it didn’t take long for the search for items to begin.
“Look, I found a bug already right on our backpack,” one girl happily exclaimed.
Masters admitted the challenges were as much about identifying items in nature as they were about survival. He added that the program was likely to evolve over time to being more survival-oriented and that possibly it could even include staying a night in the woods.
As soon as they were released, the teams dispersed into the woods and it was easy to see which of the challenges was the most popular.
“Definitely building a shelter,” Masters said. “We had some people build a shelter the last time and it’s still up.”
But perhaps the real goal of the program was achieved early on, before the handing out of the backpacks. As early as when cars pulled into the Lowe-Volk parking lot.
“To me, the best thing is just families coming out and doing things together,” Masters said. “We love that here.”
Mission accomplished.
PHOTO GALLERY: Family Backpack Survival Challenge